An unusual feature of the show was that the main characters shared the same names as the actors who played them, which enhanced the illusion that the series was a real documentary about the Sydney Games.

Nicholas Bell's character, the conniving Secretary to the Minister for the Olympics, was only a guest role in Series 1 before being promoted to a main cast member for Series 2.

The final episode aired just days before the real opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and featured the four leads being forced to stand in for The Seekers at a rehearsal of 'The Carnival Is Over' for the closing ceremony; The Seekers themselves ended up performing the song weeks later at the Paralympics closing ceremony instead.

In one episode, actor John Howard appeared reading a fictional apology to Aboriginal people while playing a character also named John Howard, creating confusion with the real Australian Prime Minister of the same name; the joke about the mix-up became a well-known running gag in Australia.

After the real Sydney Olympics took place, John Clarke said in an interview that most of the show's storylines were pure invention by the writers, joking that if they had used real events from SOCOG, audiences would have criticized them for being unrealistic.

A spin-off series called 'The Games: London Calling', which would have seen Clarke and Riley reprise their roles as consultants for the 2012 London Olympics, was planned but never went into production at the Nine Network.

In 2011, the creators of The Games publicly accused the BBC mockumentary 'Twenty Twelve' of plagiarism, with John Clarke claiming they had held detailed talks with the British team beforehand; the BBC denied the accusation, stating the only similarity was that both shows were set around the Olympics.

The Games was named Most Outstanding Comedy Program at the 2001 Logie Awards, and John Clarke and Ross Stevenson won Best Screenplay in a Television Drama at the 43rd Australian Film Institute Awards for the episode 'Solar'.